Greek Criminal Code

Criminals who have many pending court cases against them – and others who have been charged with or convicted of serious crimes – are on the loose, and that fuels a string of new crimes.

The case of the gang rape of a 24-year-old woman in Thessaloniki sparked a wave of rage and at the same time a wave of support for the victim, who mustered the courage to relate the nightmare that she experienced.

One must create an environment that is at once contemporary and strict, and also without shady areas or loopholes that could allow a repetition of such a crime or create a climate of impunity and lenient sentencing.

The original version of the provision as tabled by the government (after lengthy inter-party consultations and consensus) stipulated that only rape with a threat to life or of physical harm was a felony.

The proposed changes will also loosen the requirements for the release of prisoners serving multiple life sentences, such as the members of the notorious and now defunct N17 terrorist organisation.